Advance copies of this statement are made available to the
press under lock-up conditions with the explicit
understanding that the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m.
Eastern Standard Time.
Statement of
Philip L. Rones
Acting Commissioner
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Friday, February 2, 2007
Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 111,000 in
January, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged
at 4.6 percent. Payroll employment rose by 196,000 in
November and by 206,000 in December (as revised). In
January, job growth continued in several service-providing
industries. In addition, construction employment rose over
the month, while the number of manufacturing jobs continued
to decline.
Employment in health care increased by 18,000 in
January, following a relatively large increase in December
(43,000). Employment continued to trend up over the month
in hospitals, ambulatory health care, and nursing and
residential care facilities. Over the year, health care
employment rose by 328,000.
Food services continued to add jobs in January, with
gains of 21,000 over the month and 347,000 over the year.
In January, employment in professional and business services
continued to expand, led by a gain of 9,000 in architectural
and engineering services.
Construction employment increased by 22,000 in January;
job gains occurred in the nonresidential components and in
heavy construction. Employment in construction was up by
100,000 over the year, as gains in nonresidential and in
heavy construction more than offset losses in residential
specialty trades construction.
Manufacturing employment declined by 16,000 in January
and by 110,000 over the year. Over the month, there were
job losses in motor vehicles and parts, computer and
electronic products, furniture, and textile mills. Employee
buyouts and larger-than-usual seasonal plant shutdowns
contributed to the large job decline in motor vehicles. An
employment gain in plastics and rubber products reflected
the return of workers from a strike. The factory workweek
fell by 0.2 hour to 40.8 hours, and overtime declined by 0.1
hour to 4.1 hours. Since peaking in July, the manufacturing
workweek has declined by 0.7 hour.
Average hourly earnings for private production and
nonsupervisory workers increased by 3 cents in January to
$17.09, a gain of 0.2 percent. Over the year, average
hourly earnings rose by 4.0 percent.
The establishment survey data released today reflect
the incorporation of annual benchmark revisions and updated
seasonal adjustment factors. Each year, we anchor our
sample-based survey estimates to full universe counts of
employment, primarily derived from administrative records of
the unemployment insurance tax system. In addition, the
seasonally adjusted establishment survey data from January
2002 forward have been revised to incorporate updated
seasonal adjustment factors.
The benchmark revision increased the level of nonfarm
payroll employment in March 2006 by 752,000 (not seasonally
adjusted) or about 0.6 percent. The average benchmark
revision over the prior 10-year period was plus or minus 0.2
percent. We conducted extensive research into potential
sources for this larger-than-normal benchmark revision for
March 2006 and concluded there was no reason to deviate from
our usual benchmarking process. We continue to research
possible improvements to both the monthly payroll survey and
the administrative data.
A summary of our research efforts can be found at
http://www.bls.gov/web/cesbmart.htm.
Turning to the household survey data, both the
unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons were
essentially unchanged in January, at 4.6 percent and 7.0
million, respectively. The labor force participation rate
and the employment-population ratio also were little changed
over the month, as were most other key measures from the
household survey.
Household survey data beginning in January 2007 reflect
updated population controls. As part of its annual review
of intercensal population estimates, the U.S. Census Bureau
determined that an upward adjustment should be made to the
population controls. This adjustment stems largely from
revised estimates of net international migration. The
updated controls would have resulted in an increase of
321,000 in the estimated size of the civilian
noninstitutional population age 16 years and over for
December 2006. In accordance with our usual practice,
official estimates for December 2006 and earlier months will
not be revised.
A comparison of December 2006 not seasonally adjusted
data based on the old and new controls shows that the
population adjustments caused increases in the labor force
(163,000), employment (153,000), and unemployment (10,000).
The unemployment rate, labor force participation rate, and
employment-population ratio, however, were not affected.
In summary, payroll employment rose by 111,000 in
January, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged
at 4.6 percent.